1. Incorporation by Reference
Applicant hereby incorporates herein by reference, the U.S. patents and U.S. patent applications, if any, referred to in the Description of Related Art section of this application as filed.
2. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to ball pick-up and retrieval machines and systems, and more particularly to a tennis ball retrieval cart that doubles as a ball hopper for practice.
3. Description of Related Art
The following art defines the present state of this field and each disclosure is hereby incorporated herein by reference:
Folz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,593,868, describes an apparatus for retrieving tennis balls which may be widely scattered on a court or field which comprises a brush element journaled for rotation in a direction whereby the balls are picked up and swept into a receiving chamber as the apparatus is rolled or moved over the field. An arcuate ramp is provided for cooperation with the brush for assuring that the balls will be efficiently picked dup and directed toward the receiving chamber, and a deflector plate is provided for moving the balls directly into the receiving chamber in a manner substantially precluding accidental loss of the balls therefrom. In addition, oppositely disposed retriever arm members are provided for dislodging balls from a position adjacent a wall, fence, or the like, and for directing the balls thus dislodged into the path of the brush for sweeping thereof into the storage or receiving chamber.
Keller, U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,490, describes a ball retrieving and storage device for gathering balls lying upon a court floor or other flat surface and including a wheeled box-like collector having a bar extending across the front of the collector, the bar having a ball engaging surface which is normally carried above the floor at a height slightly less than the diameter of the balls to be collected so that when the device is moved over the floor and the bar contacts a ball, the bar is caused to ride across the top of the ball and trap it within the collector.
Rohrer et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,428, describes a tennis ball retrieving apparatus comprising a wheeled vehicle having a front end and a rear end. The vehicle has a ball storage container disposed at a level enabling ready removal of balls therefrom by a person next to the vehicle while the person is in a standing position. There are a pair of horizontal ball gathering arms at the front of the vehicle arranged in V formation to provide an apex portion to which gathered balls are fed. A pair of the wheels of the wheeled vehicle are in traction contact with the surface on which the vehicle is supported to be driven thereby in rotary fashion as the vehicle is moved over the supporting surface. The wheels are supported with the lower portions of the tires spaced from one another less than the diameter of a tennis ball so as to grip the same when a ball is fed thereto. A chute extends from the area just rearwardly of the lower portions of the tires upwardly to the storage container. The feed wheels are operable by successively feeding balls into the chute to cause previously fed balls by nudging contact to be fed upwardly to deposit the balls into the storage container.
Ray, U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,527, describes a multipurpose ball collector, ball storage and ball dispenser using a wheel driven rotating shaft and fixed projections to positively collect balls, a wire cage to store balls and a folding handle with a folding cage door to conveniently allow withdrawing of the balls during practice. The folding handles are pivoted and attach to each other during collection to provide structural integrity. For dispensing, the handles and attached to the cage to form a structure which lifts the cage to within easy reach for the practicing player. Collection arms can also be provided to assist in ball collection or carrying the cage to a storage location.
Frankel, U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,100, describes a ball retrieval device that includes a main body and a ball collection basket for storing retrieved balls. The basket is shaped substantially as a slotted box. Only a single basket opening, located in a forward peripheral portion of the basket, has a width greater than the diameter of a ball. The collection basket is removably attached to the main body using a pair of upward-turned hooked bracket portions that extend through mesh openings in the basket and allow the basket to remain substantially horizontal when the basket is attached to or removed from the main body. Arms which extend from the main body are provided with an arrangement of resilient fingers, strips, brushes or lips that form a channel in which balls are held when they are adjacent to the arms. These fingers, etc., channel balls along the arms towards a conveyor mechanism located within the main body as the ball retriever is pushed forward.
Chen et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,991 describes a ball retrieving and storage cart that generally comprises a wheeled carriage that rollingly supports a basket in a ball retrieving position. In an exemplary embodiment, the basket has a front end and a rear end and includes a bottom wall having two side members oriented front to rear and having a normal position spaced apart less than the ball diameter and defining a slotted aperture for entrance of a ball into the basket. In the ball retrieval position, at least one of the side members is a slanted member having a front end higher from the ground than a ball radius and a rear end lower to the ground than the ball radius. At least one of the side members is a deflectable member and is biased to the normal position but is sideways deflectable such that a ball on the ground entering the aperture sideways deflects the deflectable member sufficiently for the ball to pass into the basket. The wheels may define a rolling plane. The carriage includes a vertical frame member terminating in a push handle and the vertical frame member includes brackets for attaching a moveable basket at a serving position higher that is than the ball retrieving position.
Cuti, U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,351, describes a tennis ball retriever and multi-purpose tennis ball hopper and caddy that holds all of the tennis equipment used during play and practice. The retriever utilizes a container portion incorporating a bottom of transverse rods which are slightly resilient and incorporates a telescoping handle structure used in ball retrieval and as a support stand for the ball container portion. The hopper has side walls that open for easy access to the container.
Callahan, U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,658, describes an object storage receptacle having two articulating arm members movably attached to opposite sides of a receptacle member at a point at or above the center of gravity of said receptacle member. The articulating arm members are attached to the receptacle member such that in a first position the arm members form a handle by which the storage receptacle may be carried, in a second position the arm members form a stand sufficiently stable to support the storage receptacle in a free-standing manner, and in a third position the arm members together may be disposed laterally relative to the storage receptacle. The arm members may be capable of free movement throughout a continuous circle about the receptacle and/or capable of telescoping into a first position where the arm members are fully extended for use and in a second position where the arm members are fully retracted for storage. Wheels may be attached to at least one arm member to enable the user to roll the device to a different location during use without lifting and carrying the entire device.
Podejko, U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,643, describes a tennis ball holder and retriever that is easily movable about the court with four swivel caster assemblies at its corners. The holder and retriever include a wireform basket-like structure with a bottom wall designed to pick up tennis balls when pushed down over the balls. The swivel caster assemblies have small diameter wheels and are mounted to the corners of the basket-like structure with downwardly spring-biased telescopic tubular assemblies that position the basket above the balls for rolling movement about the court yet permit the basket-like structure to be depressed to its ball pick-up position.
Campomane, U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,845, describes an apparatus for retrieving tennis balls from a playing surface of a tennis court and for storing the tennis balls either for preventing the same from being removed by non authorized persons or for subsequent removal for playing purposes, either by taking the balls directly from the apparatus of by transferring the balls to another receptacle, the apparatus including a closed container having an open front wall, a ramp at the open wall for receiving the balls and directing the same into the container through the open wall, and a handle and wheels for carrying the container on the playing surface.
Our prior art search with abstracts described above teaches several ball pickup devices including those that have forward extending arms and wheels to grip balls and move them into a hopper. However, the prior art fails to teach the improved arms claimed herein, and particularly fails to teach the use of grooves or passageways for directing the balls to one side of the hopper where the wheels compress the balls between the wheel and the hopper and rolls the ball into entryways into the hopper. The prior art also fails to teach the instant raised support of the hopper using its cover. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.